Confused about BT FTTP

the_philosopher · 9 July 2018 at 8:28PM

Hello

I'm about to move into a brand new house, provided by my employer. I'm very lucky to get such a thing I know!

Apparently the housebuilder has had FTTP put in by BT. I phoned BT today, and they told me that this means that BT will be my only choice of broadband supplier. I asked them about how much it would cost per month, but they refused to discuss that with me until they know the status of the install from their engineers.

I tried to search up FTTP prices online, but all I could find was a page detailing Openreach's wholesale prices. In order to use BT's usual method for getting quotes, I had to input my postcode, and my new house isn't on their system yet.

So my question is, have BT told me right that I can't get broadband with any other provider? I thought monopolies on utilities were something from the 1970s, so is that definitely right? Will they have to open up to other suppliers at some future date? And if all this is indeed correct, does anyone have any clue how much they charge and/or where to find out online? And does anyone know what the speeds are like?

Many thanks in advance and please accept my apologies if this has already been asked in some other form.

Tom

Neil_Jones · 9 July 2018 at 9:06PM

FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) is basically fibre internet only with an upgraded bit to improve the speed to your home.

You can migrate to and from provider with this setup but its not as simple as it would be in a normal FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) setup. In the normal setup you pick a provider and they sort it all out. In an FTTP setup not all providers support it and most will not even notice on the "let us check your line" thing that you even have fibre at all.

Roland_Sausage · 9 July 2018 at 9:24PM

Openreach have opened FTTP up to other providers, however none of the normal residential suppliers seem interested in offering it at the moment. As well as BT Retail, there are a handful of business providers also offering service over FTTP.

You can get the normal BT Infinity 1 and 2 packages (55/10 and 80/20) as well as the faster Infinity 3 and 4 (200/20 and 300/30). Not sure on prices as they don't really make them easy to find.

lee111s · 9 July 2018 at 9:35PM

Roland_Sausage wrote: »

Openreach have opened FTTP up to other providers, however none of the normal residential suppliers seem interested in offering it at the moment. As well as BT Retail, there are a handful of business providers also offering service over FTTP.

You can get the normal BT Infinity 1 and 2 packages (55/10 and 80/20) as well as the faster Infinity 3 and 4 (200/20 and 300/30). Not sure on prices as they don't really make them easy to find.

3 and 4 have been replaced with Ultrafast 1 and 2 now with connection speeds of 160/30 and 330/50

AAISP, Zen and BT are the !!!8220;main!!!8221; suppliers of service over Openreach FTTP.

Sarajw70 · 9 July 2018 at 9:37PM

We are just about to move into a brand new house. Today we have discovered that BT have put in fibre to the property. Great I thought .... until I discovered that the cost per month is £55/month for “upto 145 mgb”! My issue is that this forces us to sign up to BT! I get that they have to get the money back for the investment they’ve made - but how is £55 a good deal when virgin do 108 mgb for £29.99/month for fibre to the property??? And this essentially means that they can increase their prices and we have no option but to swallow them be cause we have no other choices ... we can’t vote with our feet and move to another provider!

How is this fair to consumers? How is this fair competition ? What can we do?

Roland_Sausage · 9 July 2018 at 9:43PM

Sarajw70 wrote: »

How is this fair competition ? What can we do?

How is it anti competitive if it is available to other providers but they choose not to sell it?

I suppose all you can do is nag your chosen provider until they decide to start offering it.

Roland_Sausage · 9 July 2018 at 9:49PM

lee111s wrote: »

3 and 4 have been replaced with Ultrafast 1 and 2 now with connection speeds of 160/30 and 330/50

AAISP, Zen and BT are the !!!8220;main!!!8221; suppliers of service over Openreach FTTP.

Ah right, ok. Didn't realise they had changed the product names. They still don't seem to make the prices easy to find though.

I forgot about Zen and AAISP. They will sell FTTP to consumers, and at least they make their prices easier to find.

[Deleted User] · 9 July 2018 at 10:21PM

The up to date list of who sells Openreach (WBC) FTTP can always be found at
https://www.homeandbusiness.openreach.co.uk/fibre-broadband/ultrafast-broadband/ultrafast-fibre-buy-it-now

iniltous · 9 July 2018 at 11:31PM

Sarajw70 wrote: »

We are just about to move into a brand new house. Today we have discovered that BT have put in fibre to the property. Great I thought .... until I discovered that the cost per month is £55/month for !!!8220;upto 145 mgb!!!8221;! My issue is that this forces us to sign up to BT! I get that they have to get the money back for the investment they!!!8217;ve made - but how is £55 a good deal when virgin do 108 mgb for £29.99/month for fibre to the property??? And this essentially means that they can increase their prices and we have no option but to swallow them be cause we have no other choices ... we can!!!8217;t vote with our feet and move to another provider!

How is this fair to consumers? How is this fair competition ? What can we do?

I find it remarkable, ( and depressing ) that when BT/Openreach get so much grief about the so called lack of 'full fibre' infrastructure from the media, the Government , Ofcom , and ISP's , that the OP and Sarajw, both have access to 'full fibre' but don't want it, or at least don't want to pay for it, they presumably would be happier with a copper pair and be able to use a 'cheap as chips' provider.

As already stated, BT are not the only provider offering service over OR FTTP, but probably are the 'value' provider, compared to the other providers offering service over Openreach FTTP.
The price that BT sell their 2 lower speed access on FTTP is the same price as FTTC , but the chances are that you would pay the 'list price' where as you probably could get a deal on the price of FTTC.

If the lack of ISP's like Sky and Talk Talk offering access to FTTP over OR's infrastructure causes anyone to complain about lack of competition, it's something they should take up with Sky and TT, because they could if they wished to, offer their customers FTTP over OR infrastructure , but they chose not to...they would prefer to sweat their LLU assets , as they make more money out of a customer on that.

Sarajw70 · 10 July 2018 at 7:05AM

Hmmm as I said - I!!!8217;m more concerned about the fact that we are now locked in to a contract with BT for as long as we live in that house - they can raise their prices and there is naff all we can do about it!! And yes they have invested - they also been taking in £ms and £am in BDUK funding and ERDF funding to help with their funding! It!!!8217;s also the fact that it so much more expensive than virgin ?? When they are also Installing fibre to the property?

onomatopoeia99 · 10 July 2018 at 8:04AM

Sarajw70 wrote: »

Hmmm as I said - I!!!8217;m more concerned about the fact that we are now locked in to a contract with BT for as long as we live in that house

Why are you locked in? You could go to A&A or Zen.

The fact that Sky, talktalk and all the other poundshop grade ISPs do not offer FTTP services is not the fault of BT.

Confused about BT FTTP

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